


A Grump for Christmas

by Schedazzle



Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Evakteket Challenge, Fake Dating, Gløgg, M/M, Snowed In, also evens family will play a part, and gross sweetness, and mutual pining, my prompts were:, there will be so much fluff, this is the first chapter for my evakteket christmas challange
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-17 23:50:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13088043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schedazzle/pseuds/Schedazzle
Summary: Apparently he wasn't as great at hiding his emotions, because as he hastily wiped the table someone behind him said, “Why do you always frown when that one comes on?”Isak looked over his shoulder to where that deep voice had come from. Even. There was a fluttering in his stomach every time his coworker unexpectedly starting talking to him.He rolled his eyes. “It means the CD starts back up again.”Even who had been smiling at him grinned at that and chuckled. “You’re a Grinch.”OR: The Fake Dating holiday fic where they both get to save each other a little bit





	A Grump for Christmas

Isak sighed. This was the fifth time today Stop the Cavalry started playing. The music was silently in the background of the small coffee shop he worked at, but it was still worming itself into his ear. And hey, he liked Christmas songs as much as the next guy, but the shop only had one cd with around 20 songs that they played all day long and honestly? That was too much when you had six-hour shifts.

Apparently he wasn't as great at hiding his emotions, because as he hastily wiped the table _ someone _ behind him said, “Why do you always frown when that one comes on?”

 

Isak looked over his shoulder to where that deep voice had come from. _ Even. _ There was a fluttering in his stomach every time h is coworker unexpectedly starting talking to him.

 

He rolled his eyes. “It means the CD starts back up again.”

 

Even who had been smiling at him grinned at that and chuckled. “You’re a Grinch.”

 

Isak huffed and flung the towel over his shoulder so he could carry the tray with empty cups and plates toward the counter behind which Even stood. 

 

“I am not a Grinch, just because I hate to be tortured with the same five songs all day long.”

 

Even hummed teasingly and took the tray from him. “Twenty,” he clarified and winked at Isak. Or attempted to, which made it even more charming. Before Even could register the blush on his face though, he thankfully turned around.

 

Isak had started to work at the coffee shop only little over a month ago, he only saw Even when he left or came, since they never had the same shifts - apart from fridays where their shifts overlapped for two hours (and really, Isak didn’t need yet another reason to be a fan of Fridays). Then there was that one time they smoked weed behind the building when Isak had to take out the trash and Even had stood there, taking the excessively huge joint from behind his ear and eyebrows raised in invitation.

 

That was until last week, when Isak had entered the shop to find Even behind the counter, in the middle of preparing a cup of coffee and not looking as if he was leaving any time soon. He greeted Isak with a cheerful “Morning!” as if they did that every day.

 

When Isak asked his manager totally casually about it after half of his shift, he was told that Even had asked to change shifts because of a class project. Isak didn’t know if he should panic or be delighted.

 

The thing was Isak found Even hot. Like really really hot. He had this James Dean thing going with his hair in a styled coif, was tall – taller than him – this incredible laugh and just seemed so confident and cool. Isak may or may not googled one or more bands from band shirts he saw Even wear in passing. His spotify playlist now featured a lot more Nas than before – which was none.

 

So, Isak was intrigued by this charming boy. He had no idea yet if Even liked girls or guys or whatever was going on though, so he tried to tame down on the butterflies. He never had to deal with those before. Yes, he had found boys attractive, a lot and yes, he had made out with his fair share of guys, but he had never felt this weird combination of being thrilled, feeling tongue tied and at the same time at ease and the blushing! Where the fuck had that come from. 

 

Isak was confident – some (Jonas) might even call him cocky – and for the record he had perfect game with both genders (even if the girls didn’t really interest him but oh well the closet days did exist). So, why was it that the total failure of a wink from Even made his face burn?

 

Isak sighed over his pathetic self and was about to step behind the counter when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

 

He turned around to a beaming woman maybe in her mid or late forties. She had blond hair that was up in a loose bun and was wrapped in a huge blue jacket that matched her eyes. Isak smiled his most professional smile and raised his brows. “How can I help you?”

 

“Isak?” the woman asked and – if possible – her smile grew even more. Isak frowned. 

 

“Uh, yes?” They did not wear name tags in the coffee shop, the only uniformy thing they had was the dark red apron that marked them as staff. This meant someone knowing his name was a little strange.

 

“Oh! This is so exciting,” she said and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. Presumably at his confused look she took the hand down again and gasped. “Oh, god. I’m so rude, I’m sorry this is just so aah.” She grinned and Isak huffed out a smile too, even though he had no idea what was happening. At all.

 

“I’m Liv!” The way she exclaimed it made Isak instantly feel bad, because he had no idea who Liv was supposed to be.

 

“Uhh,” Isak looked around the shop. Was he being pranked? Probably not, Jonas’ prank days were long over – they actually stopped when they were twelve; almost ten years ago – what the fuck was happening.  “I’m sorry I-“ thankfully he was interrupted; he had no idea where he was going to go with this anyway – from a “Mom?” behind him.

 

Isak turned around to Even looking pretty panicked towards the woman. He had stopped in his tracks but now started around the counter, grabbing the woman at her elbow and wordlessly dragging her gently a few steps away from him. Well not entirely wordless. Isak’s pretty sure he heard him mutter “Fuck.” under his breath when he passed him. Isak still stood there dumbfounded.

 

Isak made himself move when he saw a girl heading toward the counter, taking Even’s place behind it and serving the girl some way too sugary and syrupy drink that didn’t even register as real coffee. His eyes kept flying back to Even and the woman – his mother. Even was making wild and dramatic gestures with his hands and the woman mirrored him. Isak’s smirked. This was the first time he saw a crack in the cool demeanor of Even. It was pretty cute how he threw around his long arms while talking. They spoke in hushed voices though, so Isak didn’t really hear anything.

 

When the girl left the shop Isak pretended to wipe the coffee machine clean, so he could sneak some more glances. Even placed one of his nice hands – Isak noticed, sue him – on his mother’s back and was maneuvering her towards the door. When the door opened and a man shuffled past them Even took a step to the side, which his mother used to whirl around, take two long steps towards Isak (who was still “busy” behind the counter) and smiled up at him.

 

“I really look forward to you joining us for dinner soon!” she had rushed the words out and added “I’m going, I’m going.” with defensively held up hands towards her son. She left – after pressing a kiss to Even’s cheek and murmuring something that made him laugh despite the exasperated look on his face.

 

Even looked after her for a second and then to Isak. Their eyes met and Isak looked down quickly, guilty of being caught staring. He began sliding the to go cups from one side to the other of the register, just to seem to have something to do other than look or talk to Even.

 

“Uhm,” Isak glanced up to find Even leaning his hip on the counter, his arms crossed. “so, that was my mother.” Even nodded as if to encourage himself. Isak huffed.

 

“Yeah, I caught that.” Even hummed. 

 

There was a silence that stretched out between them after that. Isak just stood still, this time letting his eyes take Even in. Even was fidgeting, almost buzzing with nervous energy. He kept looking to Isak, to the ground, to the door, back to Isak. He inhaled as if he was about to say something, held the breath for a second and then exhaled without speaking. He shifted his weight. Isak decided he had to start that conversation. Whatever the fuck it was going to be about.

 

“So,” he cleared his throat because his voice had decided to sound way higher than his 21 self allowed himself. “why, uhm.” He stopped and started anew. “I’m invited for dinner tomorrow?”

Trying to ease the tension, he went for a teasing smile, but he’s pretty sure it turned out more wobbly than anything else.

 

Even let out a nervous laugh. “Yes, about that.” He frowned at the ground.

 

“Ok, do you remember how I complained about – I told you about my family being a bit overbearing. Smothering.”

 

Isak nodded. Because yes, he remembered. Even had told him as much the one time they had shared that joint. The fog thick between them, both leaning on the narrow back alley wall facing each other. They had talked, way longer than Isak’s break was supposed to be – Even’s shift had been over, Isak had no idea why he was still there that day – and then suddenly Even had told him about his family some times overstepping boundaries. In an adding sentence he had said “I think it’s because of my bipolar.”

 

Isak had congratulated himself on reacting pretty decently to it. He had just hummed, not making a big deal out of it, and then the conversation shifted elsewhere until the backdoor was opened and their other coworker had desperately and angrily asked Isak to please move his fucking ass inside and work. (When he got home that day the first thing he did was google bipolar, because he had an idea what it meant, but wasn’t sure he got that right. Through all the time he had spent with his mother after her diagnosis, he had learned not to be to quick to think he had all the facts right.)

 

So, yes, Isak remembered. Even mirrored his nod. “Yeah so, they don’t like me living alone and not having a partner and all.” Isak’s ears might’ve perked up at that choice of words. Not girlfriend. Huh.

 

“It’s annoying but mostly I don’t – I try not to let it bother me, but for some reason, maybe because it’s christmas, they’ve been really-“ Even shook his head on the search for words, eyes staying mostly on the ground, only a few times glancing up to Isak.

 

“I don’t know, they kept going on and on about it and I Just wanted them to lay off my back, you know? So I said I, uhm. I told them I had a boyfriend. Yeah.” Even pulled in his lips and finally looked up.

 

Isak still couldn’t make sense of this whole situation – but what did he expect, since his brain was mostly occupied by the word  _ boyfriend boyfriend boyfriend _ running on repeat.

 

“Oh?” was all Isak croaked out. Even nodded. He must’ve noticed that Isak needed further explanations, because he continued. “I told them and they obviously wanted to know the name and all that.” Even used a voice that only missed a  _ duh _ at the end, which made Isak nod and breath out “Yeah.” on autopilot.

 

“I told them his name was Isak and that we worked together.” Even rushed the words out, after which he looked at Isak with widened eyes. Isak felt like his brain wasn’t working correctly. Normally he was pretty quick and clever, right now he felt slow and dumb. 

 

“Oh,” he said again. They looked at each other.

 

Even was taking his reaction in and Isak had to remind himself to not stare open mouthed at him. He swallowed and finally formed some words. “That’s uh, me.” He felt like an idiot for pointing that out.

 

Even nodded. “Yes.”

 

“Oh.” God he hated that word. He frowned. “So-“ Thankfully Even interrupted him, because he had no idea where he was even going with this sentence.

 

“Yes, so when my mother came in and saw you she thought you were my boyfriend and-“ a breathless humorless laugh “I might’ve told her my boyfriend would come to dinner the night before christmas because she’s been nagging all week to finally meet yo- him and I haven’t yet found a way out of that. Sorry.” He added with a smaller voice.

 

Isak shook his head, mostly at the tone of the last word. “No, it’s-“ then a thought came up. “How did she know it was me?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You said she came in and saw me and mistook me for your boyfriend. How did she know it was me?”

 

Even blushed. He actually blushed! There was definitely something fluttering in Isak’s stomach. With a grimace Even said “I… might’ve shown her a picture of you?”

 

Isak felt his own face heat up. “Oh.”

 

“Hmm. Yeah.”

\---

Warmth spread around him as Even unloaded the cups and plates from the dishwasher. It had been three days since the incident and neither of them had brought it up again. They hadn’t talked more than a few words to each other because Even was pretty sure he fucked it all up. Was Isak more quiet than usual? Was he being weird? Well he definitely had been weird and made it weird so now that it  _ felt  _ weird there was really no point to search the fault anywhere else but himself.  

 

Tilting his head to stretch his neck, Even began to unload the mass of mugs from the dishwasher. The day had sucked since early morning. Apart from the whole shit show with him telling his family about Isak (which really, what was he thinking. But they had made comments all year long and when it got closer and closer to christmas they had just become so obvious and hurtful about it. He knew they didn’t mean it like that, they just thought they knew what he needed. He was more than happy alone but they didn’t see that. Well, ok. He had been crushing hard on his coworker for weeks now, but apart from that he didn’t need anyone to feel whole or capable. 

 

He managed fine on his own. But his mom worried and wanted him to be cared for by someone else than her. She was coming from a nice place but it sucked and really didn’t do great things to his ego. So, after talking about this topic for the gazillionth time, Even had snapped. He snapped and told them “I  _ do  _ have a boyfriend. I didn’t introduce you to him yet because it’s new and he’s shy.” He thought that would set an end to it. Ok, to be honest, he didn’t think. And if he did he probably could have known that, no, that did not set an end to it.  That's when the endless barrage of questions had started.  What is his name, how does he look like, where does he live, what is he like, is he funny, is he kind, does he study or work? And Even had great answers to all of that. Because Isak had just popped into his head. He just never really thought it would blow his – granted, slim to begin with – chances with the hot guy he worked with.

 

Finally, after weeks of pleading, he had convinced Vilde to change shifts with him so he could exchange more than a few drags of a joint and words in a back alley with Isak and now it was all fucked already.

 

But apart from all that, he had a wet shoe since he stepped out of the tram right into a puddle, his neck hurt because he fell asleep reading last night, he burned his hand on the espresso machine (because he was staring at a certain someone but that wasn’t the point right now – also, it wasn’t his fault that Isak looked just captivating while yawning and stretching like a tired kitten), let his phone fall which now sported a small crack on the side of the screen and remembered he left the cheese outside this morning which meant when he came back to his flat there would be a very sweaty cheese that had enough time to make everything smell like it. So, today sucked.

 

Even sighed and looked over to where Isak was whipping a table clean. He nearly let a mug fall when he saw who knocked against the window and waved cheerily at him. His mom was back. Isak’s head had whipped up when she had knocked against the glass right beside him. Well fuck.

 

Fuck fuck fuck fuckity fuck.

 

“Isak! Hi!” Even’s mom dived right in for a hug. And – did he mention? Fuck. The thing was the Næsheims were a pretty huggy family. They hugged all the time.  _ We didn’t see each other for a bit? _ Hug.  _ Happy birthday! _ Hug.  _ You look tired.  _ Hug.

 

Even only noticed it was not what all families did when people told him he was being weird in middle school. (It’s why he gets along so great with his other coworker Mags - who he sadly had to leave behind in the pursue to have shifts alongside Isak – because when he said “Hi, I’m Even.” and offered his hand, Mags went right for the hug. Refreshing.

 

But back to Even’s current dilemma, he was pretty sure Isak was not one of the huggers of the world. His guess wasn’t exactly contradicted by the way Isak’s spine seemed to go rigid and his head pulled back in surprise.

 

To his credit, he recovered relatively soon and awkwardly lifted his arms as if to hug back when Liv retreated.

 

“So happy to catch you here! I have a question for you, so d-“ that was as far as she came before Even had rounded the counter and sprinted to them.

 

“Mom!” He was way too loud even for his own ears. His mom smiled at him but also looked a bit quizzically when she went in for his greeting hug. And – hahh – even if he was pretty annoyed with her for showing up here again, he kind of needed that hug.

 

His long arms wrapped the tiny frame of his mom up – she wasn’t that tiny, just in comparison -  and allowed himself to close his eyes for a second.

 

“So! I was wondering if your sweetheart has any allergies or food preferences I should know about.” Liv smiled at Isak, who smiled wobbly in return.

 

“Mom.” Even started again, his voice sounded tired and annoyed.

 

She held up her hands. “Yes, I know what comes now,” she said and for the next bit, did a deep voiced imitation of her son. “Mom, I told you you can just ask stuff like this over the phone. Don’t come by unannounced. Yada yada.” Even breathed out through his nose but the little breath that almost sounded like a giggle that came from Isak beside him, also made a small smile form on his lips.

 

“Yes. Exactly.”

 

His mother made a  _ pfft _ sound. “Check your phone then. I have called twenty times.”

 

“You have?” Frowning, Even fished his phone out. “Oh, I had it on mute.”

 

“Even.” The way she said his name now had a different undertone and Even’s shoulders sagged a bit.

 

“Mom.” He meant it as a warning – because please not here and please not in front of  _ him _ – but it came out more exhausted than anything else.

 

“Ok, ok. But, now I’m here anyway.” She smiled brightly at Isak. Shit.

 

Even saw Isak – polite smile bravely plastered on his face – stare at them. Even inhaled deeply and prepared himself, closing his eyes. On the exhale he started, “About that, I have to tell you something.”

 

And then there was suddenly an arm that snaked around his middle and a hand that rested on his hip. Even’s head whipped around to look at Isak, who tilted his head slightly, almost in a scolding way – maybe to say “So much for the poker face.” because Even just outright stared at him startled – before he looked back at Liv.

 

“What was it you wanted to ask?”

 

Liv’s eyes, which had concernedly roamed Even’s face, hesitantly turned to Isak. “Uh, just,” out of the corner of his eyes Even saw her gaze flit back to him, so he turned to face her and tried to smile. “just if you’re allergic to anything or… yeah.” 

 

When Isak had figured out that Even was about to tell his mother about this, them, not being real Isak’s brain had short circuited just because of how vulnerable Even had looked. Isak had acted on instinct and hoped Even got the hint to  _ just play along _ when he lightly squeezed his hip. 

So, Isak had just acted on instinct and tried to communicate  _ just play along _ , with the light squeeze of Even’s hip.

 

It hadn’t worked out perfectly. Even had looked at him as if he had grown a second head, all slack jawed and startled. Isak’s jaw clenched as he tried to make conversation with Even’s mom, while Even just stared at Isak with a spaced out look and seemed to reply with “Hmms” or “Yeahs” on autopilot.

 

Even’s mother really didn’t seem to buy any of this. Maybe it was all in Isak’s head but the eyes that were so full of happiness a few moments ago, now jumped between them suspiciously. Would she really suspect them to just make it all up? Maybe. It was her son who came up with it all, maybe she was used to that kind of thing. Or? Isak didn’t know.

 

Isak was panicking. This shouldn’t matter so much but oh well, he had always been competitive, had always panicked when he was failing. So maybe it was just that. Or maybe not.  _ Maybe  _ it was that lost looking boy beside him he had a massive crush on who’d be embarrassed if the truth came out like that.

 

That’s why Isak did the thing he did next. He looked over at Even, who looked a bit startled to have Isak’s full attention on him. Isak leaned in a bit and saw Even’s eyes get rounder, but thankfully they also zipped down to his mouth. Isak licked his lips and then leaned in to place a peck at the corner of Even’s mouth. Ok, so maybe that wasn’t what he had planned to do. Maybe in his head he gave Even a full on romantic as fuck kiss and the music would swell and all things would turn out great. Maybe he chickened out. Sue him.

 

Even’s round eyes got smaller when a soft smile spread over his lips. Isak’s heart thudded. He wanted to look at nothing else for the rest of the day, week, month, maybe forever.

 

And then there was a hand stroking a wild curl behind his ear. When Even’s finger brushed over a sensitive spot behind his ear his eyes wanted to close on their own accord. Even’s eyes got smaller and his smile wider. Isak felt himself blush and his lips curled up to the side as he ducked his head shyly.

 

The moment was over under half a minute, but it had felt longer and way shorter all at once. When Isak looked back to Liv, she was smiling widely at them, swaying a bit from side to side.

 

She let out a happy sigh and nodded to herself. “Ok. I’ll leave you two to it then. Unmute the phone,” she pointed accusingly at Even, her eyes growing soft when she turned to Isak. “and I will see you tomorrow.” Isak nodded. She leaned up on her tiptoes and gave her son a cheek kiss and then was out of the door like the whirlwind of energy she seemed to be.

 

The two of them stayed standing there for a couple of seconds, before Isak’s brain started back up again and he noticed the arm he had still around Even’s waist. He extracted his arm and mumbled “Uh, sorry.”

 

“What-“ Even started then shook his head in a tiny motion. “Thank you.” Isak nodded, not knowing exactly what else to do. 

 

“Sure.”Inhaling Even looked like he wanted to add something, but then just breathed out audibly.

 

“So… now what?”

 

Even looked at him surprised. “Now?”

 

Shrugging Isak tried really hard to make the next sentence not sound desperate. “I thou– What you’re mom talked about just now, sounded really cool.” Isak bit the side of his inner lip and waited for Even to react. He just looked at him quizzically.

 

“About the food.”

 

“Oh. Yeah.” Ok so Even apparently really did zone out. “Yes, the food. So I thought, since it all sounds pretty delicious, we could- that is if you wanted, or I don’t know if you didn’t want to tell them over christmas about this,” he gesticulated with his hand flying between them, “then that would be fine with me.” He cleared his throat since his voice had gotten weaker with every word.

 

Huge blue eyes looked owlishly at Isak. There was a tirade of  _ fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck _ going off in his head. Had he just done the complete wrong thing again? Had he messed up? Had Even wanted to come clean and just didn’t say anything as to not embarrass Isak? Oh god. Isak rolled his eyes in annoyance at all of it.

 

“Even.”

 

That seemed to get Even back out of his thoughts. “Right! Sorry. Ehm, yes. W-we can do that?” It came out more a question than an

 

Isak nodded. “Ok then... we’re going to have dinner tomorrow?”

 

Still pretty stunned looking Even nodded, enthusiastically. “Yeah, yes, ok! Hmhm.”

 

Before they could talk anymore there was an annoyed woman who wanted to be served behind the counter followed by a long line of others. It was going to be a busy day.

**Author's Note:**

> come and yell at me on tumblr if you liked it: isisisak :)


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